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# House Flambeau - an alternative view

#### by Lucy Hewitt

The copyright of this article remains with the original author. Articles may be copied or distributed freely for personal non-profit use, provided that the author is properly credited.

(I have tried to make this compatible with the view as printed, but I have to take objection to the House motto - and have come up with a replacement. Latin translation appreciated. Also, one warning, IOS House Diedne deserved everything they got. If this isn't the case for you then section 6 may be a bit iffy.)

House Motto: Nothing Endures Forever

Symbol: An Hourglass

### 1) The Ignem Connection

If there is a house that is associated with one form, it is Flambeau, who are universally categorised as fire mages. This has led to the perception of them as destruction oriented - and it is true that where you find Flambeau you will find Pila of Fire. However, fire is more than just a weapon - properly used it provides light, warmth and protection. In the same way, Flambeau, when not on the warpath can be the staunchest defenders of home and friends.

Just as fires are vivid, fast moving and difficult to ignore, so Flambeau magi are impossible to keep quiet. They believe that life is to be lived, magic is to be used, and time spent in tedious tasks is time wasted, never to be recovered. As the House motto suggests, many Flambeau are well aware of their own ultimate mortality, and want to cram as much as possible into their time. Sometimes this leads to unfortunate shortcuts, with disastrous results.

### 2) Magic is Life

Many magi have been surprised at the extent to which members of this house prove to be highly knowledgeable about the magical arts, given that they are rarely good book learners. This is due to a misunderstanding of the Flambeau attitude to their Art. Magic is not just useful as a weapon or a means of destruction - it is at the heart of who they are and what they do. Subtle magic is useful, and small magics are practical, but there is nothing quite as intoxicating as the rush you get from casting Really Big Spells. So, although no Flambeau would admit to having spent his time in a library studying (when he could have been out doing other things), most covenants who have a resident Flambeau discover that their sodalis has read every book in the library at some point - he just doesn't talk about it.

In some parts of the House, potential apprentices are subjected to spells that send them flying into the air. Those who panic or plead for mercy are viewed as less desirable than the ones who weather the experience with bravado - and occasionally get traded to more sedate houses in exchange for "unruly" students. An apprenticeship with the House is a rough experience - the parens pushing his student to try ever larger spells, and learn more Arts. Sometimes there are accidents, occasionally fatalities (the concept of "safety measures" is underdeveloped), but when it works, the end result is a magus who refuses to admit that there is a side to magic he can't turn his hand to. Although Ignem (and in some places Perdo) is the chief art of Flambeau, there are many generalists in the House.

### 3) Faeries and Mundanes and Demons - Oh My!

The Code of Hermes has several provisions concerning dealings with outsiders, and Flambeau magi are frequently accused of bending or breaking them. Because of their outgoing natures, they are more likely to come into contact with these "others" - be it fighting the Reconquista alongside mundanes, going head-to-head with diabolists or treading on Faerie toes. It is not because they set out to interfere with these people - rather that they cannot resist getting involved in a situation that looks as if there might be something interesting to do. As one snide Tremere comment puts it: "it doesn't matter what you shout at a group of Flambeau - 'Free Beer', or 'Demon on the Loose' - they'll come running to join in".

A Flambeau "joining in" in a situation can be a mixed blessing - if you need a hand with a Demon you will be pleasantly surprised at many can rattle off a decent magnitude DEO, and their military prowess is famous. However, the House preference is for being direct, flashy, and making no bones about the fact that you can toss big spells around till the cows come home, which makes them poor diplomats most of the time. Having said which, there are a surprising number of Flambeau whose oratory and leadership skills have made them successful politicians. After Jerbiton, they are the House most likely to remember their ties to the mundane world - with the exceptions noted below, Flambeau are the least mystical of magi, and the most likely to remember that they too are human beings.

Flambeau and Faeries have never got on. House Merinita will claim that this is because the Flambeau will burn a faerie forest for the fun of it, but the truth is rather more two-sided. The fae are famous for setting frivolous or formalised challenges which Flambeau take seriously - - the most notable incident being one occasion when a Faerie court invited a three Flambeau to hunt the White Stag. As far as the Flambeau were concerned, setting light to a few trees in order to drive their quarry towards the rest of the hunters was a perfectly reasonable technique - but the dryads didn't see it that way, and the resulting feud was never fully concluded.

### 4) Friendly Faces in Unfamiliar Places

Flambeau himself was an exile, and never settled down once joining the Order, and many of his followers share his wanderlust - after all, there are always new places to go new challenges to find. As a result, there are a large percentage of Flambeau who never settle down, but travel from covenant to covenant and Tribunal to Tribunal stopping where the fancy takes them. Even the more sedentary members of the House are prone to periods of travelling, usually after they have developed their skills a bit but before raising apprentices.

A travelling magus is a weak magus if he cannot find somewhere to sit down and do a bit of research from time to time. Therefore, a tradition of family hospitality has grown up. If a travelling Flambeau arrives at a covenant where one of his brothers lives, he will be welcomed, and given shelter. In return, the host Flambeau gets a source of information, which bypasses the Redcap network and its occasional "delayed delivery".

This has led to a feeling in some quarters that what one Flambeau knows, all Flambeau know, and the House does seem to be extremely effective at ensuring that its members are kept up to date on important events, or can call upon each other when circumstances require. Whilst the general view in the House is "fight your own battles", on occasion Hermetic bullies who have "leant" too heavily on a young Flambeau can wake up to find a couple of Archmagi waiting outside to have a friendly chat...

Another point of note about inter-house relations; Flambeau never declare Wizard's War on each other if it can be avoided. Whilst they are frequently seen to be indulging in the Test of Flames (Certamen is looked down on as a Tremere game), and displays of prowess, actively seeking to attack each other goes against their co-operative spirit. Of course, the moment a Flambeau does something that puts him outside the Order, his former brothers will be the first to hunt him down, and the least likely to accept that there were mitigating circumstances.

### 5) The Phoenix and the Bull

At the time when the Order was being created, Flambeau himself went around Europe offering the "join or die" proposal to a variety of individuals. Most of those who joined ended up in other Houses, but two groups joined him to form the nucleus of the House, and their descendants are still part of the Flambeau tradition.

The Cult of the Phoenix, were an Egyptian group, descended from the followers of Osiris, though by the time of the founding of the Order the organised religion that lay behind the cult had largely died out. Their primary belief was in the divinity of Fire, and the Phoenix as its embodiment. Their magic was fire oriented, but also involved elements of prophesy and vision which have continued to this day. Though their Hermetic descendants are definitely members of House Flambeau rather than wannabe Criamon, they maintain a certain "mystic" quality, most notable in their search for the Phoenix itself - a quest which has many parallels to the Christian grail legends.

The second group that Flambeau recruited were descendants of members of the Roman Army who retained the worship of Mithras, patron of the Legions. Membership of the Mithraists is by invitation and offered to those Flambeau who have demonstrated courage, discipline in combat and open-handedness towards ones enemies. Not unsurprisingly, many Hoplites are members, as are all of the Flambeau Archmagi. The existence of the group is known to some magi outside the House, though the exact nature of its rituals is not. If questioned, members are likely to describe it as a club for the honourable combat magi of the House (albeit proudly claiming a tradition dating back over a thousand years), and skate over the details of how a mystery cult has become "merely" a social organisation.

### 6) Guardians of the Order?

Many of the House become Hopolites, and it is famously true (or infamously in some quarters) that they were deeply involved in the Schism War, and that it was the Flambeau who killed most of House Diedne, nearly wiping themselves out in the process. They have never fully trusted the Tremere who took credit for the eventual victory, without having "got stuck in" to the same extent. What is less frequently commented on is the fact that they don't start these fights, but they do make sure they finish them. To the Flambeau mind, particularly of the Mithraist tradition, as the soldiers of the Order it is their responsibility to defend their less martially oriented sodales. "Just as fire keeps the darkness and wild beasts at bay so we stand guard against the forces of Darkness and Destruction". The average Merinita or Ex Miscellanea may not always agree with this, and point out that a disproportionate number of 'non-Roman' magi seem to come to grief at the end of a Pilum of Fire. The Flambeau will point out that this is because these houses supply a disproportionate number of diabolists and other wrongdoers...

### 7) The Candle that Burns Twice as Bright...

In conclusion, the magi of House Flambeau are, as the rest of the Order frequently points out, loud, aggressive, quick to take direct action and lacking in tact.

They are also loyal friends, disciplined warriors, honest opponents and devoted to the continuation of the Order. Above all, they are wizards, and live for their magic. Possibly it is this which has resulted in the fact that old Flambeau are a rare sight - if they aren't actually killed in a fight, then members of the House die in Lab accidents, or mishaps with vis... or, in a few cases, simply burn themselves out casting too many spells too fast.

In any other House this might be seen as an embarrassing way to go, but for a Flambeau, the highest compliment his sodales can pay him at his funeral is this: "His magic was too strong for his body to contain". In the beliefs of the Cult of the Phoenix, a magus who dies this way is reborn like the Phoenix itself, and, though nothing ever really lasts forever, those who burn brightest and live to the fullest have a second life before them.

### 8) Attitudes to the Other Houses

- Bonisagus: Study, study, study, but do they ever use what they learn?
- Bjornaer: If they pursued the Arts with the devotion they spend on their shapeshifting they would be worthy magi, but they are too obsessed with their heartbeasts to see how they restrict themselves.
- Criamon: Why do they go out of their way looking for this Enigma with all the glory of the Art in front of their noses?
- Ex Miscellanea: Trust them when they have proved themselves but not before.
- Jerbiton: Thank heaven for the fact that some in the Order still have their feet on he ground and can be relied upon to think straight!
- Mercere: They are loyal servants of the Order, but never underestimate their power, even if they seem powerless.
- Merinita: Tricky customers, you can never get a straight answer out of one three times in a row.
- Quaesitor: At their best they deserve our support, at their worst they are the lowest the Order produces.
- Tremere: They have tried to make us pawns in the past - never trust them or their schemes.
- Tytalus: They recognise a good fight and are prepared to stand up for themselves.
- Verditius: Poor cripples, they will never understand what it is to feel true magic in their blood.
- Mundanes: Don't forget we came from them once and they outnumber us still.
- Faeries: Shifty, tricksy, make-the-rules-up-as-you-go-along types. Don't trust them, don't befriend them, and never, ever make a deal with them.
- Demons: Hurrah for a nice, unambiguous target. FIRE!